Shock-proofing-mounting means for vacuum tubes



4 L.. C. F. HORLE lET Al.

SHOCK PROOFINQ, MOUNTING MEANS FOR VACUUM TUBES F1155 Nov, e. l1924 Inven fors:

Lawrence CJ." Horle Nicholas Heymanl Aarney l Patented Sept. l22, 1925.

lUNITED sl'rA'lres PATENT OFFICE.

LAWRENCE c. F. HORLE, OF NEWARK, NEW :rERsEinv AND NICHOLAS HEYMAN, OF BUFFALO, vNEW YORK, AssIGNoRs 'ro FEDERAL TELEPHONE MANUFACTURING CORPORATION, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

s'iooK-RRooFrNc-MOUNTING Application med November 3,' 1924. serial No. 748,620.

. To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, LAWRENCE C. F. HoRLE and NICHOLAS vHEYMAN, citizens of the United States, residing at Newark, in the l county of Essex and State of New Jersey, and at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, respectively, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shock-Proofing-Mounting Means l for` Vacuum Tubes, of which the following is/a specification.

The invention relates to mounting means for vacuum tubes or similar devices, and more' particularly to shock-proofing mountll ing means for a tube or tubes mounted upon a unit which forms partof a radio receiver.

. As is well. known, microphonic noises are likely to cause trouble in radio receivers or p other apparatus in which vacuum tubes are l0 used, due to shock or vibration transmitted to the tube electrodes from outside sources. To. avoid this trouble various systems of shock absorbing for the tubes have been proposed, and it is the general object of this u. invention to providean improved system of this character. i v

A further object is the provision of shock proofing resilient means, in combination with mounting means for the tubes, of such 0V construction that the tubes and related parts supported by the resilient means may be readily removed or replaced as a unit. Another object is to provide a shock proofing system which comprises resilient supporting means of extreme sensitiven'ess but which at the same time is not likely to lose 'its effectiveness 4or to cause damage to tubes.

.vor other parts when the receiver Yor other Y. pparatus in Ywhich it is used is subjected to 0 'roughhandlingv v 1 Another ob'ect is to provide a simplel and efiicient damping means for the resilientI means'which form part ofthe shock proof-.- .insystent 'f @.1

i o accomplish the above objects'and other objects-which will ap ear in the description which follows, the tlilies are mounted on a tube shelf to which are also secured amplifier and other elements of the receiver, and the 0 shelf with itsrattached parts is enclosed in a can or casing forming a continuous metal prising elements of resilent or fibrous or the sprlng.

MEANS FOB VACUUM TUBES.

shield. The tfubesupporting member thus formed, and carrying the tubes, is of considerable mass, and ,this heavy unit is sus-n pended by damped helical springs., on a 66 frame orl other supporting bodyfportion of the receiver. The connection means for the. helical springsby which vthe unit is suspended .are `so arranged that the unit, comprising the can and its ,contained and attached elements, may readily be removed from or replaced in the receiver.

Supplementing the shock proofing means, stop means are preferably provided. comother suitable material, interposed between the' floating unit and the frame or other fixed members of the receiver to prevent too great movement of the unit within the receiver at any time, but which allow the unit to remain freely suspended when in normal use.

Referring to the drawings:

Figures 1, 2 and 3 are respectively a side elevation, a plan view and an end elevation of an embodiment of tube mounting and shock proofing means in accordance with the invention.

Figure 4 is a detail view of a pair of shock proofing springs and a. connection means for the springs to a frame member.

Figure 5 isl an enlarged view of a shock proo ng spring showing damping means for In Figs. I, 2 and 3, a frame 1 is mounted in any suitable manner on a supporting member'as 2, which may be the base of'a cabinet or casing for radio apparatus such as a receiver. tube shelf 3 carries tubes 44 which are mounted in the 'sockets 15. Se-

cured to the tube shelf are other operating 9 parts ofthe receiver, as transformers 6 which may be of the A. F. type, transformers 7 which may be of the R. F. type grid'leak Siand condenser 9. The parts are referabl those, in any given apparatus, w ich, wit the tubes, may form aconvenient operatin v A unit properly interconnected as to its severa parts and with wiresA as lOwhich serve to make connection to other outside arts such as tuning devices and batteries. e parts. are preferably arranged `in `such a manner on the tube shelf that the assembly is approximately balanced about its center, as,-

for examp by mounting the heavy iron core A. F. transformers 6 directly under the- 1 by a ynumber of helical springs 14. Eight of such springs may be used disposed at orI near the ends of the can. The springs are preferably so placed with reference to Nthe can and the frame that certain of them, for example the upper four, extend diagonally outwardly and upwardly from the can to the frame, and othersas the lower four, extend diagonally outwardly and downwardly from\ can to frame. In order to simplify manufacture, assembly and replacement the springs are preferably arranged in pairs near the upper corners of the can. rIhe springs of each pair are hooked to lugs 15 formed in thel cover member 12. The outer endsof each pair of springs are hooked to a spring suspension member as spring bracket`16, the two spring ends being set at points comparatively far apart on, the spring bracket, as in holes 17, formed near the ends. The springs of each pair extend diagonally outward from a lug, one of the s rings extending diagonally upwardly to t e bracket and the other downwardly. The bracket is formed in such a manner as to be readily set or slipped upon a frame member 18, or other fixed supporting member,y and to be held in position thereon bythe tension of the springs and preferably not secured by any other means. V

The preferred construction of the spring mounting means which comprise the sprin l brackets 16 will be better understood by re is extended partially around' the edge to the frame.

in order to hold the bracket firmly hooked The bracket is located on the frame member and held from-slipping longitudinally by a lug 20 lying within a recess 21. The lug 20 and recess 21 are formed preferably in frame member 18 and bracket v1 6 respectively.. When the unitis in position 1n the receiver the four spring brackets y, on their springs. placing the unit, the brackets are simply are drawn tightly against the frame members by the springs, and held in this position without special fastening means, and the unit itself is `freely suspended from the brackets. In order to remo-ve the unit from the frame it is only necessary to draw the brackets back from the frame enough to release them and to allow them to hang free It is evident that in resnapped over the frame ymembers into position. .Itis to be further noted that in the initial assembly of the shock proofing system, the entire spring suspension apparatus is first assembled on the can, outside the receiver, with the springs attached to the vbrackets ready' for the easyA placing, within the receiver, of the unit which carries the tubes. Stop means comprising blocks as 22 of felt, rubber or other soft or, resilient material are preferably provided. These may be -located at suitable points on the frame or other supporting members of the receiver, and so placed and dimensioned, forexample, as to bear against the bottom or sides of the body portion `13 ofl the can which encloses the suspended unit in case the unit is forced from any cause more than a predetermined amount from its normal operating position.

Damping of the helical springs is *accomvplished preferably yas indicated in Fig. 5 by a damping member 23, which .may be of felt, cotton batting or other similar fibrous or soft material stuffed or forced into the spring and bearing against the turns.

' It will be seen that in the shock proofing.

system herein -described a high degree of eiciency is obtained due to the combination with small suspension springs,`which form a very loose ymechanical coupling between unit and fra-me and permit free relative movement of the frame with reference to the unit in any direction whatever, of the evenly balanced and comparatively large mass of -the unit which carries the tubes. The heavy' unit, with its sluggish response to movement or vibration which can only come through the sensitive and resilient springs, virtually floats in its suspension system within the frame. Further, the dam ing means for the springs deaden vibration of the spring structure itself before the vibration reaches the unit. The total` damped springs isthe effectual .stoppage or absorption of shocks and vibrations, transmitte in any direction through the receiver before they can reach the tube electrodes. It will be seen further that the spring suspention arrangement,` which, together with the loaded unit which carries the tubes, 1s comprised in thev shock procling system,

permits the ready removal and replacement of this complete operating unit for testing or repair purposes.

Vhat is claimed is:

l. 1n a shockproong mounting system for a vacuum tube, a supporting frame, a base carrying the tube, and eight helical extension springs for resiliently connecting said base to said frame, one set of four of said springs extending diagonally outwardly and upwardly from base to frame, two of said set of four springs being connected respectively at opposite points on the sides of Said base and near one end thereof, the other two of said set of four springs being connected respectively at opposite points on the sides of the base and near the other end thereof, a second set of four of said eight springs extending diagonally outwardly and downwardly from base to frame, two oi said second set of four springs being connected respectively at opposite sides of said v base and near one end thereof, the other two of said second set of four springs being connected respectively at opposite sides of said base and near the other end thereof.

2. In. a shock proofing mounting system for a vacuum tube, a supporting frame, a rectangular base carrying the tube, a. comparatively large mass rigidly secured to said base, and eight helical extension springs connected between base andframe for resilient- 1y suspending and confining said base, with attached mass and tube, within said frame, said springs being attached to said base near t-he corners thereof, four of said'springs extending diagonally outwardly and upwardly from base to frame, the other four of said springs extending diagonally outwardly and downwardly from base to frame.

In wit-ness whereof, we hereunto subscribe '0111 llames.

NICHOLAS HEYMAN. LAWRENCE c. F. HoRLE. 

